Gas producer



v Dec- 20., 1938 P. VAN ACKERENv 2,141,116

GAS PRODUCER Filed 001;. 30, 1936 22 aunar NEEM/V5 01E OUTLET PIPEPatented Dec. 20, 1938 UNITED STATES GAS PRODUCER Paul van Ackercn,Essen, Germany, assigner, by

mesne assignments,

to Koppers Company,

Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Delaware Application October 30, 1936,Serial No. 108,483 In Germany November 1, 1935 4 Claims.

The invention relates to a gas producer for the production of fuel gasesfrom solid fuels such as coke by treating the fuel with a mixture of airand steam and in particular to those gas 5 producers in which theair-steam mixture is preheated (superheated) before entering the fuelcharge of the gas producer.

It is well known that the quality of the fuelgas made can be improved bysuperheating the l0 air-steam mixture to be introduced into thegasproducer charge. In many cases contrivances have been tried forsuperheating the steam-air mixture by the utilization of the sensibleheat of the fuel-gas made in the gas producer. The l-f superheaterssuggested for this purpose have hitherto been arranged beside the gasproducer and connected with same in such a Way, that the hot producergases upon leaving the shaft, rst of all iiow through the superheatertransmitting therein their heat to the steam-air mixture. The gasproducer itself is often arranged as a steam producer in that its shellis equipped as a water chamber or the like up to the height of thegasifying zone in which the heat is developed. Above g5 the gasifyingZone the gas producer shell was hitherto mostly lined With a refractoryceramic material in order to protect the metal body of the shell againstthe influence of the hot gases.

Recent practical experiences have shown, that the advantages to beobtained by superheating the air-steam mixture are diminished by theincrease in the invested capital which is caused by the arrangement of aspecial superheating device beside the gas producer. For this reason,the

superheating of the steam-air mixture has prac'- tcally nearly alwaysbeen avoided.

The main object of my present invention is to provide such improvementsin the said gas producers, that an effective superheating of tne 4gsteam-air mixture can be attained without having to arrange superheatingequipment beside the gas producer.

The present invention is based upon the idea of utilizing inside thegas-producer shaft the ..13 sensible heat of the hot producer gases forsuperheating the steam-air mixture. For this reason I have designed theupper part of the gasproducer shell, which hitherto has been lined withrefractory material as a superheater, situated above thatl part formingthe cooling chamber. Said superheater is connected with the steamcollector of the Water chamber and also with the blast pipeline, leadingto the producer grate.

Preferably, said part of the gas producer serving as a superheater isformed as a double shell, in the interior of which a row of transverseWalls is arranged in such a Way, that the steam-air mixture passes in azig-Zag way through the cylindrical interior of the superheating chamberand thus comes into intimate contact with its hot inner Wall.

The principal advantage of the invention consists in that the steam-airmixture can be superheated in such an arrangement forming a part of thegas producer itself and which is built up by using parts of the shellwhich has to be provided in every gas producer. The execution of theinvention does not therefore result in any appreciable increase in theinitial costs for the gasproducer installation.

The superheating of the steam-air mixture according to my invention hasfurther a favourable influence upon the reduction of the temperature inthe upper part of the gas-producershaft, so that the fuel chargingequipment situated in this part is kept comparatively cool. Finally,with the arrangement according to my invention, the danger of theformation of explosive gas-air mixtures is minimized which with thewell-known pipe superheaters situated beside the gas producer is ratherconsiderable. If for instance for any reason the inner wall of thesuperheater according to my invention becomes leaky, and so air entersthe top part of the gas-producer shaft, such air will be quickly burntwith the hot gases present in the shaft dome. This combustion can easilybe inspected through the inspection openings in the gas-producer roof,through which the fuel bed and the gasifying process are supervised.Itis therefore easily possible to trace any leakages and ignitions, andupon discovery of such leakage suitable remedies also can be easily madefor eliminating the leakage trouble, whereas in the priorvv well-knownsuperheating apparatus an effective supervision or inspection of theregions of the gas leakages is practically out of question.

Still further objects of my invention may be taken from the followingdescription fof a preferred embodiment of my invention on the lines ofthe accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a side view and partly invertical section of the gas-producer according to my invention.

Figure 2 is a section through the gas producer on line II-II.

The gas producer shaft I is formed by a double shell made of sheets of asuitable metal, for instance sheet iron. The shell consists of thecylindrical walls 2, 2a, and 3, 3a, arranged coaxially of each other.

The lower part Ia of the producer-shaft shell is separated from theupper part Ib by means of a partition wall .I, extending between thewalls 2, 3 and 2a, 3a.. The lower part la is arranged for water-coolingand reaches up to the same height as the gasifying or fire zone insidethe gas-producer shaft. The cooling water is delivered through thepipeline and discharged through the pipeline 5.

The gas outlet 'I is arranged in the upper part Ib of the shell and isin connection with the usual gas treatment apparatus, not shown on thedrawing. The hot gases developed in the re zone of the gas producer owalong the walls of the upper part of the shell, before they aredischarged through the outlet 'I. In this way the upper part of theshell is heated to a comparatively high temperature.

In order to obtain a suitable cooling of the upper part of the shaftshell Ib, and to utilize the heat of the hot gases, the upper part ofthe shell is formed as a pre-heater or superheater for the steam-airmixture which is blown into the fuel charge of the gases through thegrate I 2. The upper part of the shaft being lined outside with a heatinsulation 3b, as may be seen from Figure 2, is sub-divided by avertical partition wall 8. Near to the partition wall the pipe 9 entersthe shell for the delivery of the cold steam-air mixture and a pipe II)is connected on the-other side of the partition wall 8 leading to thespace II underneath the grate I2.

The steam-air mixture reaching the upper part of the shaft shell throughthe pipe 9 flows over the whole area of the gas producer shell, asindicated in Fig. 2 by the arrows I3. The steam-air mixture is thusheated and the shaft walls are simultaneousli7 cooled down.

Furthermore, there are provided staggered baffles I4 in the upper partof the shaft, whereby `is obtained a multiple change in the ow directionof the steam-air mixture inside the superheater Ib. In this way the heatexchange between the inner wall tube 2a and the steam-air mixtureflowing along same is improved.

The steam required for the gasifying process is taken from theevaporator I5 which is connected .to the water-pipelines 5 and leadingto the lower part of the gas-producer shell. The hot water produced inthe shell fiows into the evaporator I5 without separation from thevapour bubbles which may have been formed, the water and steam beingseparated inside the vessel I5. The Water flows back through the pipeV 5into the gas producer shell. A safety valve I6 limits the pressure inthe vessel I5. The steam generated flows through the pipeline Icontrolled Vby a valve I'I into a nozzle I, which is arranged inside thetube 9, which latter is also connected to an air blower, not shown onthe drawing.

The steam-air mixture then enters the superheater Ib. The producer roofE@ Which is suitably lined with a refractory material 2I and providedwith inspection holes, not shown on the drawing, is equipped with arotary charging hopper 23, movable on the rollers 22. This charginghopper reaches into the interior of the gas producer and runs intoseveral outlets 25, which for instance are formed by cast-iron bodies.

As usual, the shaft I is sealed by a rotary ash pan 26, rotating onrollers 25. The grate I2 is fastened on the ash pan.

I have now described my present invention on the lines of a preferredembodiment thereof, but my invention is not limited in all its aspectsto the mode of carrying it out as described and shown, since it may bevariously embodied within the scope of the following claims.

I claim: Y

1. Gas-making apparatus comprising a gasmaking chamber provided with ashell therefor, and having a supporting grate therein, a lowerprimary-air blast-inlet-means for inflow of the primary-air blastupwardly through the bottom of the grate, and an upper gas offtake-meansand having the lower portion of the shell adjacent the fire zone of thefuel bed constituted of a double-wall metallic water-cooled jacketprovided with means for inflow of cooling water, and the upper portionof the shell adjacent the gas oitake-space constituted of a separatedouble- Wall metallic air-cooled jacket adjacent to and surrounding thegas oi-take-space and adapted for ow of the primary-air blast throughthe jacket to cool the gas and preheat the air by indirect heat exchangewith the gas in the offtakespace, and in which the air inlet and outletconnections for the cooling air for the upper air cooled jacket compriseconduits adapted to accommodate the primary-air disposed entirelyoutside the gas-making chamber and the upper and lower jackets and inwhich the outlet connection is ccmmunicably connected with theprimary-air blast inlet means for the fuel bed.

2. Apparatus as claimed in claim Yl and in which the air-cooled jacketis partitioned radially by an upwardly directed partition extendingsubstantially throughout the height of the air-cooled jacket to separatethe air inlet and air outlet therefor from each other and in which theair inlet and air outlet communicate with the jacket close to theposition 4so as to cause circumferential flow of the air from the inletto the air outlet.

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 and in which the air-cooled jacket ispartitioned radially by an upwardly directed partition extendingsubstantially throughout the height of the air- Cooled jacket toseparate the air inlet and air outlet therefor from each other and inwhich the air inlet and air outlet communicate with the jacket close tothe partition so as to cause circumferential flow of the air from theinlet to the air outlet, and in which the walls of the doublewallair-cooled jacket are provided with radially directed upwardly extendingbaies with the baffles on one wall staggered relative to the baffles onthe other wall.

4. Gas-making apparatus comprising a gasmaking chamber provided with ashell therefor, and having a supporting grate therein, a lowerprimary-air and steam mixture-blast-inlet means for inflow of theprimary-air and steam mixtureblast upwardly through the bottom of thegrate, and an upper gas oftake-means and having the lower portion of theshell adjacent the re zone of the fuel bed constituted of a double-wallmetallic Water-cooled jacket provided with means for inflow of coolingwater, and the upper portion of the shell adjacent the gas offtake-spaceconstituted of a separate double-wall metallic aircooled jacket adjacentto and surrounding the gas oiftake-space and adapted for ow of theprimary-air and steam mixture-blast through the jacket to coolthe gasand preheat the air and steam mixture by indirect heat exchange with thegas in the oitake-space, and in which the air inlet and outletconnections for the cooling air for the upper air-cooled jacket compriseconduits adapted to accommodate the primary-air and steam mixture, withmeans for introducing steam produced by the lower Water-cooled jacketinto the air inlet, al1 disposed entirely outside the gas-making chamberand the upper and loWei` jackets and the said outlet connection beingcommunicably connected with the primary-air and steam mixture-blastinlet means for the fuel bed. 5

PAUL VAN ACKEREN.

